Method and apparatus for migrating data between storage volumes

• US 20080126673A1
• Filed: 07/27/2006
• Published: 05/29/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kaneda, Yasunori
• Granted Patent: US 7,555,575 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/103
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0605 by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0631 by allocating resources to storage systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0647 Migration mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0685 Hybrid storage combining heterogeneous device types, e.g. hierarchical storage, hybrid arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

The computer system is composed of an old storage apparatus, a new storage apparatus, management computer, data network and management network. Management computer gathers logs at the old storage apparatus. When data is moved from the old storage to the new storage, destination volume in the new storage apparatus is allocated and concatenated using the gathered log information and a mapping table. The system and apparatus simplifies migration processes from ordinary storage apparatus to the new storage device, which may include HDDs and FLASH memory units. The system takes into account the differences in performance characteristics of HDDs and FLASH memories, achieving improver performance of the overall storage system.

Claims

1. A computerized data storage system comprising:

a. A first storage device comprising a first storage volume storing data;

b. A host computer operatively coupled to the first storage system via a network and operable to access the data in accordance with a data access pattern;

c. A second storage device coupled to the first storage device and comprising a storage controller, a first media pool and a second media pool, wherein;

i. the characteristics of the first media pool are different from the characteristics of the second media pool;

ii. the second storage device is operable to determine the data access pattern and to allocate a second storage volume comprising at least a portion of a first media pool and at least a portion of the second media pool in accordance with the determined data access pattern; and

iii. upon execution of a data migration operation, the allocated second storage volume is operable to store a copy of the data.

2. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first media pool is an HDD pool and the second media pool is a FLASH media pool.

3. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the second storage volume comprises a migration module operable to initiate the data migration operation causing the data to be migrated from the first storage volume of the first storage device to the second storage volume of the second storage device.

4. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, further comprising a management module operable to initiate the data migration operation causing the data to be migrated from the first storage volume of the first storage device to the second storage volume of the second storage device.

5. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the second volume comprises at least one FLASH memory chunk and at least one HDD chunk.

6. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the data access pattern indicated whether data access is random or sequential.

7. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the data access pattern comprises data write to data read ratio.

8. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the data access pattern comprises data access frequency.

9. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the data access pattern comprises no access duration.

10. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, further comprising log storage unit operable to store information descriptive of the access pattern of the data by the host computer, wherein the second storage device is operable to determine the data access pattern based on the contents of the log storage unit.

11. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the each of the first and second storage devices further comprises a lifetime reporting module operable to determine a remaining lifetime of storage units within at least one of the first media pool and the second media pool.

12. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the second storage device further comprises a volume concatenation module operable to concatenate the at least a portion of a first media pool and the at least a portion of the second media pool into the second storage volume.

13. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the host computer comprises an access path management module, operable to manage access of the host computer to the first storage device and the second storage device.

14. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, further comprising a memory module storing a mapping table comprising specifying a type of media pool corresponding to the access pattern.

15. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the at least a portion of a first media pool and the at least a portion of the second media pool are allocated to the second storage volume based on priority and wherein the priority is determined based on the data access pattern.

16. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, further comprising a network switch operatively coupled to the first storage device, the second storage device and the host computer, the network switch comprising a migration module operable to cause the data to be migrated from the first storage volume of the first storage device to the second storage volume of the second storage device.

17. The computerized data storage system of claim 16, wherein the network switch further comprises a volume concatenation module operable to concatenate the at least a portion of a first media pool and the at least a portion of the second media pool into the second storage volume.

18. The computerized data storage system of claim 16, wherein the network switch further comprises an access path management module, operable to manage access of the host computer to the first storage device and the second storage device.

19. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, further comprising a network switch, wherein the first storage device is coupled to the second storage via the network switch.

20. The computerized data storage system of claim 19, wherein the network switch is operable to initiate the data migration operation.

21. The computerized data storage system of claim 19, wherein the network switch is a Fibre Channel switch.

22. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the first storage device is directly coupled to the second storage.

23. The computerized data storage system of claim 1, wherein the data migration operation is initiated by the second storage device.

24. A method comprising:

a. Logging access requests directed to a data stored in a first storage volume to produce a log information;

b. Analyzing the log information to determine a data access pattern;

c. Allocating a second storage volume comprising at least a portion of a first media pool and at least a portion of a second media pool in accordance with the determined data access pattern; and

d. Migrating the data from the first storage volume to the second storage volume.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the first media pool is an HDD pool and the second media pool is a FLASH media pool.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the data access pattern indicated whether data access is random or sequential.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the data access pattern comprises data write to data read ratio.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the data access pattern comprises data access frequency.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the data access pattern comprises no access duration.

30. A computer programming product embodied in a computer-readable medium, the computer programming product comprising:

a. Code for logging access requests directed to a data stored in a first storage volume to produce a log information;

b. Code for analyzing the log information to determine a data access pattern;

c. Code for allocating a second storage volume comprising at least a portion of a first media pool and at least a portion of a second media pool in accordance with the determined data access pattern; and

d. Code for migrating the data from the first storage volume to the second storage volume.

31. The computer programming product of claim 30, wherein the first media pool is an HDD pool and the second media pool is a FLASH media pool.

32. The computer programming product of claim 30, wherein the data access pattern indicated whether data access is random or sequential.

33. The computer programming product of claim 30, wherein the data access pattern comprises data write to data read ratio.

34. The computer programming product of claim 30, wherein the data access pattern comprises data access frequency.

35. The computer programming product of claim 30, wherein the data access pattern comprises no access duration.